Oyster-tongs



(No Model.)

S. PETERSON.

OYSTER TONGSZ No. 371,967. Patented Oct. 25, 1887.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII III 573m afto'ancut LII NrrEn STATES PATENT Erica.

SAMUEL PETERSON, OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND.

OYSTER-TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,967, dated October 25, 1887.

Serial No. 227,171. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL PETERSON, a citizen of Maryland, residing at Annapolis, in the county ofAnne Arundel and State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Imp rovements in Oyster-Tongs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and .use the same.

My invention relates to oyster-tongs, and has for its object the improvement of means for attaching the tongs proper to the handles or poles.

Hitherto the construction of the tongs necessitated the boring of one or more holes through the handles and the use of bolts passin g through them, thereby considerably weakening that portion of the handles on which a strain is made.

Myiuvention provides two bolts, placed on each side of the handle, and allows the end of the latter to rest securely in a socket, which also acts as a ferrule, preventing the splitting of the wood.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front view of the oyster-tongs attached to the handles, which, for convenience sake, is broken away. Fig. 2 represents the back of the same. Fig. 3 shows a sectional view.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

E represents the forks; A, the fork-carrier, formed with a tang, as shown, to fit one side of the handle. It carries a slot at one end.

B is the under plate, onto which are riveted the wires a a, forming the net to hold the oysters raked up by the forks. It will be noted that the peculiar construction of this plate gives the netting a bag shape. b is a portion of the said plate, extending over the end of the handle in a band and forming a socket. Toward the opposite end are the two bolts 0 a.

0 represents the plate clamping the handle by means of the bolts. The stud on the under side of this plate descends into the slot in the tang and secures it against a lateral movement. The wires of the netting a a are shown riveted to the underplate, but may extend from side to side and be secured to the plate by any of the ordinary means.

The manner of putting the tongs onto the handle is simple,and only requires that the end of the latter be placed in the socket, the tang of the fork'carrier runs under the band b, the plate 0 is dropped over the threaded ends of the bolts 0 c with its stud in the slot, and the nuts screwed tight.

Having now fully described my said inveir tion,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the fork-carrier constructed with a tang, of a separate under plate formed with a ferrule or band adapted to embrace and surround both the head ofthe handle and the said tang, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the fork-carrier constructed with a slotted tang, of a separate under plate formed with a ferrule or band adapted to embrace both the tang and the head of the handle and of a threaded clamp provided with screw-nuts, and aplate formed with a stud fitting into the slot of the tang for the purpose of binding the tang, the handle, and the under plate together, substantially as dc scribed.

3. The combination, with the fork-carrier constructed with a slotted tang of an under plate carrying thenetting and formed with a ferrule or band adapted to surround both the head of the handle and the said tang, andpro-= vided with a surrounding clamp, screw-nuts, and a plate formed with a stud for the purpose of binding together the tang, the handle, and the under plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I atiixm y signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL PETERSON. 

